Is this normal for a GB small forest axe?

Q

qmike

Joined
Nov 13, 2006
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21
I got this GB SFA a few months back. Recently I noticed a fairly large gap on the underside of the axe head where the eye wasn't fully fused together. I contacted GB and they said its normal. Now, I know I have seen pictures of these axes that were properly formed. And its rather agitating to spend $120 on "high end" axe and have this defect. So my question to those with Gransfors SFA's is, does your axes head have the gap thats in the attached pictures?

Thanks
 

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Yes this is normal, I have two of the GB SFA and it looks the same on both of mine. I was worried at first too, but noticed others looked the same.
 
You might wish for that more visually pleasing, but there is no problem with it.
 
Hi Mike, I wouldn't like the crack/bad weld myself. I'm looking at your pictures and it may be an illusion but the head looks crooked when you line up the forward point on the haft and look along the bottom of the blade. Is that happening too?

Regards

Robin
 
Wetterlings have these too. It's part of the way they are made by hand. That's why you don't see it on the cheaper axes. Don't worry. It's not going to break. Use the snot out of it and enjoy :)
 
It is not a bad weld - these are forged from a solid piece of steel - the eye is punched and drifted, the strongest way you can do it.
Drop forged axes usually have a punched and drifted eye, but this is done after the main forging and is done with a hydraulic press - two rams hold the axe while a third runs a punch/drift through it. This is a pretty precise setup as far as forging goes.
Gransfors on the other hand has an operator holding the work piece and a punch connected to the mechanical hammer comes down to make the hole. Then a drift is added and the hole is enlarged. after this process the blade is forged down to size - this is where you are getting this "defect". (I wouldn't consider it such) As they forge the blade down around the drift the metal stretches around the front of the drift and the result is this little spot you see. It's not a crack - it's an extension of the eye, so really there is no stress riser to worry about.
As for them being handmade - I would definitely put them into the handmade category. When you read articles about Collins Axes in the late 1800's they discuss very similar methods and while made in a factory where considered made "by hand".
I understand that you like what you like and if that spot is a deal breaker then it would be pretty easy to sell it and get a good smith to forge you one out paying close attention to avoiding pulling the eye out like that. Me personally, it is little things like that that make Gransfors such a pleasure to use and collect.
RMJ
 
RMJ Tactical said:
It is not a bad weld - these are forged from a solid piece of steel - the eye is punched and drifted, the strongest way you can do it.
Drop forged axes usually have a punched and drifted eye, but this is done after the main forging and is done with a hydraulic press - two rams hold the axe while a third runs a punch/drift through it. This is a pretty precise setup as far as forging goes.
Gransfors on the other hand has an operator holding the work piece and a punch connected to the mechanical hammer comes down to make the hole. Then a drift is added and the hole is enlarged. after this process the blade is forged down to size - this is where you are getting this "defect". (I wouldn't consider it such) As they forge the blade down around the drift the metal stretches around the front of the drift and the result is this little spot you see. It's not a crack - it's an extension of the eye, so really there is no stress riser to worry about.
As for them being handmade - I would definitely put them into the handmade category. When you read articles about Collins Axes in the late 1800's they discuss very similar methods and while made in a factory where considered made "by hand".
I understand that you like what you like and if that spot is a deal breaker then it would be pretty easy to sell it and get a good smith to forge you one out paying close attention to avoiding pulling the eye out like that. Me personally, it is little things like that that make Gransfors such a pleasure to use and collect.
RMJ
Click to expand...

i agree with RMJ. simply what you see is an extension of the eye drift. watch them being made on you tube.
GB's are definitely hand forged using what the guys at Wetterlings:D like to call the "BIG":eek: hammer.

thanks for clearing this up RMJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E89nlVmPeeU
at 2:43 you see the "BIG" hammer

buzz
 
Last edited:
the POS Swedish army surplus axe I received a few weeks ago had one of these, but it was obvious that the paint that had covered it had cracked and split, making me think that it had opened up since issued. I returned that sucker. Looking at all my hammer forged swedish heads, they all have that to some degree.
 
its normal. its just where the metal is folded over unto its self... its not a crack, break, or bad weld...
 
RMJ Tactical said:
It is not a bad weld - these are forged from a solid piece of steel - the eye is punched and drifted, the strongest way you can do it.
Drop forged axes usually have a punched and drifted eye, but this is done after the main forging and is done with a hydraulic press - two rams hold the axe while a third runs a punch/drift through it. This is a pretty precise setup as far as forging goes.
Gransfors on the other hand has an operator holding the work piece and a punch connected to the mechanical hammer comes down to make the hole. Then a drift is added and the hole is enlarged. after this process the blade is forged down to size - this is where you are getting this "defect". (I wouldn't consider it such) As they forge the blade down around the drift the metal stretches around the front of the drift and the result is this little spot you see. It's not a crack - it's an extension of the eye, so really there is no stress riser to worry about.
As for them being handmade - I would definitely put them into the handmade category. When you read articles about Collins Axes in the late 1800's they discuss very similar methods and while made in a factory where considered made "by hand".
I understand that you like what you like and if that spot is a deal breaker then it would be pretty easy to sell it and get a good smith to forge you one out paying close attention to avoiding pulling the eye out like that. Me personally, it is little things like that that make Gransfors such a pleasure to use and collect.
RMJ
Click to expand...

markv said:
i agree with RMJ. simply what you see is an extension of the eye drift. watch them being made on you tube.
GB's are definitely hand forged using what the guys at Wetterlings:D like to call the "BIG":eek: hammer.

thanks for clearing this up RMJ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E89nlVmPeeU
at 2:43 you see the "BIG" hammer

buzz
Click to expand...

Just remember, difference between hand forged and hand made. Too bad we can't ask the old timers at Emerson and Stevens.
 
Thanks guys, I just wish I had known this as I would have saved a bunch and bought a wetterlings.
 
RMJ is right. I was about to give the same explanation.

It's not a structural flaw any more than the eye is a structural flaw. These happen on some of my ax eyes as well; there's not really a good way to prevent it that I can see. Squishing the hot metal around into the shape you want freehand is not an exact science, and as you are forging out the sides of the eye thinner, it elongates the eye. Then as you are forging the blade with the drift in place to prevent the eye from collapsing, it closes up that slight elongation, leaving the "crack" you are seeing. Look how much steel is on either side of it. You couldn't break it hitting it with a 12 pound sledge. No worries.
 
Yep my american felling axe has the same thing. I wouldn't worry about it, there is still alot of metal on the sides. When it's metal VS. wood, metal always wins.
 
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